Several impacted grantees aired their grievances during an hours-long meeting of the Fresno Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission (PRAC) on Monday night \u2014 the first monthly meeting since news broke of the alleged embezzlement. The PRAC is an independent recommendation and oversight body made up of community members to ensure Measure P expenditures are consistent with the measure\u2019s intended goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a structural issue within the city and their contracts and their contractors,\u201d said Jazmen Moore, an artist and grant recipient. \u201cIt\u2019s not the contractor\u2019s fault, it\u2019s the city\u2019s responsibility. When you hire people, you\u2019re responsible for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fresno City Manager Georgeanne White defended the city\u2019s execution of its grant in response to questions from PRAC Chair Kimberly McCoy. White stood firm in saying the city isn\u2019t to blame, noting the agreement came before the PRAC commission as well as the Fresno City Council for review and approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe City did nothing wrong. I stand by that 100%. It is a very unfortunate situation,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not immediately clear how the city will administer the third cycle of the grant program, though White said the city would move the program in-house and ended its contract with the Arts Council effective Feb. 20. The city is focused on making whole impacted grantees of cycle two<\/a>, which consists of 33 organizations that have not received any payment.<\/p>\n However, White said Monday the city will not take money from other departments in the middle of a budget year \u201cto fix the Arts Council\u2019s mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not doing that. This administration is not going to do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Fresno City Council authorized the city to accept reimbursement from the Fresno Arts Council and to spend up to $1.5 million for the arts and culture grant program<\/a>, contingent upon the amount of funds received.<\/p>\n The Fresno Arts Council confirmed on Feb. 6 that it was \u201cthe victim of unauthorized financial transactions resulting in the loss of agency funds\u201d by an employee no longer with the organization.<\/p>\n The Fresno Police Department, in coordination with the FBI, is investigating the alleged embezzlement, officials say. Police have issued several search warrants, but no arrests or charges have been filed. According to city sources who spoke with The Bee on condition of anonymity, the former operations manager from Fresno Arts Council,<\/a> Suliana Caldwell, is said to be under investigation for alleged embezzlement. Caldwell is no longer with the organization.<\/p>\n The Fresno Arts Council board and Executive Director Lilia Gonz\u00e1les Ch\u00e1vez have not responded to multiple requests for comment. In a Feb. 13 statement, the Board said it was cooperating with the City of Fresno and law enforcement, but would not comment further due to the active investigation.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Be angry with the Fresno Arts Council\u2019<\/p>\n City officials say they\u2019re \u201cappalled<\/a>\u201d by the lack of financial controls at the Arts Council and deny the city has a share in the blame.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city of Fresno did everything it was supposed to do under the agreement,\u201d White said. \u201cIf people want to be angry with someone, be angry with the Fresno Arts Council.\u201d<\/p>\n Om\u00e9 Lopez, founder of Dulce Upfront, a community media access nonprofit, serves as the fiscal sponsor for 21 grant recipients and has been an outspoken critic of the EEAC grant process. Lopez said the Arts Council\u2019s executive director, Ch\u00e1vez, as well as others at the Arts Council, City Council and the PRAC share in the responsibility \u2014 especially as members of the arts community have been sounding the alarm on transparency issues since the fall<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at our bank accounts every week. I have accountants CPAs and other people that review it,\u201d she said \u201cSo it\u2019s not just on (one) person like Suliana of embezzling.\u201d<\/p>\n Elizabeth Laval, president of the Fresno City and County Historical Society, said in an interview she\u2019s concerned the Fresno Arts Council board didn\u2019t know something was \u201cawry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just not acceptable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n PRAC Chair Kimberly McCoy had some heated words for the city\u2019s top administrator during Monday night\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all unfortunate, right? That this has happened and there were no safeguards, or nothing between the contract with the city and the Fresno Arts Council \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere were safeguards,\u201d White responded.<\/p>\n \u201cWell then, they were not followed,\u201d McCoy said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were followed,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen we wouldn\u2019t be having this conversation if they were followed, because $1.5 million is missing,\u201d McCoy said.<\/p>\n White said the city wanted to administer the money from the start but decided to contract out the project under pressure from the arts community.<\/p>\n \u201cNow it sounds like you\u2019re putting blame on the arts community,\u201d McCoy said.<\/p>\n White acknowledged the city could have had more oversight of the arts and culture grant program.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish there would have been quarterly reports in that agreement. There weren\u2019t. That wasn\u2019t ultimately what was negotiated. It was an annual report. That was what came before the Council,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n White said the city would file a claim with the Arts Council\u2019s insurance to try to recover any possible funding.<\/p>\n \u201cIf, in fact, somebody\u2019s arrested, and this turns out to be a theft, that\u2019s going to be excluded from a lot of insurance coverages,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The next PRAC meeting is March 16, 2026.<\/a><\/p>\n The Fresno Arts Council office, located on Van Ness Avenue in downtown Fresno, photographed Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. Fresno police were notified $1.5 million of taxpayer funds went missing from the Fresno Arts Council in a case of alleged embezzlement. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Heated exchange between White, PRAC Commissioner<\/p>\n
City Manager Georgeanne White responds to questions from the Fresno Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission during its monthly meeting on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026 meeting. Melissa Montalvo Fresno Bee <\/p>\n
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